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Self-inflicted immobilisation
A robot which eliminates itself either accidentally or deliberately (via several different ways) is considered to have achieved a self-inflicted immobilisation. This differs from hostile immobilisations (which are inflicted by opposing robots), malfunctions (in robot design or engineering) and hazard immobilisations (which are inflicted by House Robots or arena hazards, such as the Floor Flipper and spikes). Self-inflicted immobilisations are often referred to on Robot Wars as a robot committing suicide. Definition The key term in deciding if an immobilisation has been self-inflicted or not is to determine whether there has been an avoidable error. An avoidable error cannot be in design or engineering, nor a broad error such as a Gauntlet route or choosing to take on a certain robot. They must be concise, specific events which directly cause an immobilisation. Examples are listed below. Arena Hamper Often, robots became immobilised due to contact with parts of the arena (not including hazards), usually by hitting a wall or getting stuck in the floor. Self-Inflicted *In the Stock Car Trial, Demolisher crashed into a wall at top speed, flipping itself over. With no other robot involved, and Demolisher's own avoidable action responsible for its immobilisation, this is considered a self-inflicted immobilisation. *Similarly, when both Kat 3 and The Steel Avenger got their axes stuck in the arena floor, this was an avoidable error and had it solely cost them their battles, it would have been designated here. Not Self-Inflicted *Contrarily, when Vector of Armageddon attempted the Gauntlet in Heat D of Series 1, it became stuck attempting the second ramp. The reason for the immobilisation was that Vector of Armageddon's ground clearance was too low. Therefore, the robot's design meant that it would never have been able to traverse that second ramp. Getting wedged was not an avoidable error, and this is therefore not a case of self-inflicted immobilisation. Although it can be argued that taking the ramp at all was an error, Vector of Armageddon succeeded in negotiating the first ramp, and nearly all robots had succeeded in taking the second one. Therefore, it is not reasonable to believe that taking the ramp would have ended in immobilisation. *When Psychosprout drove forward in the Labyrinth trial in Series 1, Heat E, it collided with REALI-T and rolled back to the start. This immobilisation was primarily caused by the collision between both robots, Fire When a robot breaks down after catching fire - usually through driving itself over or near a flame hazard - it is deemed to have become immobilised by fire. Self-Inflicted *Terror-Bull chose to light its tail on fire in its Series 4 battle with Raizer Blade. This turned out to be an erroneous decision as Terror-Bull's motors burnt out. Not Self-Inflicted *Most immobilisations by fire, although in the same method, are not self-inflicted. Technophobic burst into flames in Series 3, but only after it was pushed onto the Flame Pit by Pitbull during their second-round battle. Being pushed onto the Flame Pit was not Technophobic's choice, and was therefore not an avoidable error. Recoil Although most thought to be classed as a malfunction, recoil occurs when a robot's weapon malfunctions or contains too much power/energy within an attack, causing the robot to immobilise itself through this. Self-Inflicted *In its Extreme 1 Mayhem battle against Napalm 2, one half of Gemini flipped itself onto its back, where its wheelie bar pinned it off the ground. If a robot puts itself into a position where it becomes immobilised, it is considered self-inflicted. *PP3D's attack on Cherub in their Series 9 Head-to-Head was not only powerful enough to send Cherub spinning into the wall and immobilise it, but also shear one of its own drive motors off its mounts, leaving it unable to drive in a straight line when the battle was restarted. If a robot damages itself during an attack and becomes immobilised as a result, the immobilisation is considered self-inflicted. Not Self-Inflicted *Inverterbrat's flipper became wedged beneath the robot and beached it off the ground when trying to flip The Creature. Although this would seem like a self-inflicted immobilisation, there was no avoidable error, as the flipper in fact malfunctioned to pin it in place. Therefore, this was a malfunction. *In trying to flip S.M.I.D.S.Y. out of the arena in the heat final, Chaos 2 flipped itself over, and was unable to right itself. Whilst this could be seen as a self-immobilisation, it was later revealed the reason Chaos 2 couldn't self-right was because S.M.I.D.S.Y. had damaged its flipper panel. It could be argued that, as S.M.I.D.S.Y. played a direct role in preventing Chaos 2 from recovering, it could not be seen as a self-inflicted immobilisation. Pitted Whenever a robot falls into the Pit of Oblivion through any means, it is classified as having been pitted. Self-Inflicted *Most infamously, when Killerhurtz drove across the arena and into the pit, there was no possible contact with Cerberus that could have caused the pitting, with Cerberus still on the other side of the arena as it happened. John Reid's actions were, therefore, an avoidable error and Killerhurtz's pitting is considered a self-immobilisation. *In a different take on things, when Cassius 2 attempted to pit Pussycat in Heat M of Series 3, Cassius 2 charged too quickly in its attempt to do so, overshooting the edge of the pit and falling in itself. Despite Pussycat being involved in the tussle, Cassius made an avoidable error by putting too much acceleration into its push. Therefore, where a robot pits itself whilst attempting to pit another, it is considered a self-inflicted immobilisation. Not Self-Inflicted *Any instance where a robot is pushed, flipped or dropped into the pit by another competitor or a House Robot. These are actions beyond the robot's control, and are considered hazard immobilisations. *When Eric drove into the pit whilst trying to push King Buxton in, this had come as a result of King Buxton pushing Eric towards the pit and getting both robots stranded with half of their wheels suspended over the pit. Whilst Eric did technically pit itself seconds later, it had only done so due to actions caused by its opponent which prevented it from being able to drive away from the pit in the first place. If Eric had been able to pull itself away from the pit and then fall in, it would have been classed as a self-inflicted error. *When Stinger rebounded into the pit in Series 3, Heat A, it may have been considered an avoidable error through Stinger having driven uncontrollably near the pit. However, when Stinger fell in, it did so by driving into a charging Mace 2 and being deflected away. Therefore, it is impossible to tell whether Stinger's trajectory change was due to Mace 2's attack (making it a hostile immobilisation), or due to Stinger's prominent control issues. With such doubt, Stinger's pitting in this battle cannot be considered a self-inflicted immobilisation. *When Wild Thing 2 dashed over the descending pit in its Series 6 Semi-Final Losers' Melee and failed to get away in time, this is generally not considered an avoidable error. Often there was a delay in the pit descending after the release was pressed, so it cannot be accurately judged whether a robot made a mistake by driving across the descending pit, or were taken unawares by its descent. The exception is Major Tom, which actually activated the pit during its Series 5 battle against Kat 3 and knew it would be descending. Stranded To be stranded, a robot has to have entered a position where it cannot move. The most common cases of getting stranded are through driving onto grilles (Series 1), into the Pit of Oblivion (see Pitted), or off platforms in the Sumo trials or side competitions (Series 2, Series 4). Self-Inflicted *During Dantomkia's battle with S3, Dantomkia became stuck underneath an angle grinder after driving into it. It is impossible to tell whether the impact, the angle grinder, S3's disc, or Refbot's attempt to push it free were responsible for the immobilisation. However, irrespective of the actual cause, Dantomkia's immobilisation was directly influenced by it driving into the angle grinder in the first place. Therefore, if a robot takes terminal damage whilst caught in a position it gets itself stuck in, it is considered a self-inflicted immobilisation. Not Self-Inflicted *Any instance where a robot is pushed into the aforementioned hazards and gets stuck, or pushed off the platform in Sumo competitions. The former circumstances are considered to be hazard immobilisations, such as Tornado impaling one half of Gemini onto a wall spike in Series 4. Floor Flipper Especially since Series 8, it is possible for a robot to become immobilised by driving onto and being flipped by the Floor Flipper. This is especially possible if the affected robot is unable to run inverted or has no self-righting mechanism. Self-Inflicted *Chompalot's defeat to Gabriel in Series 8 was solely attributed to Chompalot driving itself onto the Floor Flipper, being thrown across the arena, and left unable to self-right upon landing on its side near the arena wall. *Similarly, Foxic backed onto the Floor Flipper during its Series 9 Group Battle, and was effectively immobilised after its lifting arm failed to work at all. Not Self-Inflicted *Any instance where a robot is pushed onto the Floor Flipper by another and is flipped. A notable example is TR2 pushing Dantomkia onto it during their Series 8 Heat Final, an action which was beyond Dantomkia's control. Such actions are considered to be hazard immobilisations. *In the original series, the Floor Flipper was only generally used to throw immobilised competitors across the arena, after they had been placed there by a House Robot or their opponent(s). As competitors had already been eliminated before being flipped, these instances do not count as self-inflicted immobilisations. Occurrences Series 1 Series 2 Series 3 Series 4 Extreme Series 1 Series 5 Series 6 Extreme Series 2 Series 7 Series 8 Series 9 Series 10 Occurrences in International Series US Season 2 Nickelodeon Dutch Series 1 References Category:Terminology